How Cowboys’ Dak Prescott was able to pull turkey leg from Salvation Army pot to celebrate TD vs. Commanders

ARLINGTON, Texas — Quarterback Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys didn’t just dominate the Washington Commanders on Thanksgiving as he threw for 331 yards and four touchdowns on 22-or-32 passing in a 45-10 rout. The Cowboys quarterback was also responsible for a celebration perfectly calibrated to the holiday: a special turkey-leg feast pulled directly from the famous Salvation Army bucket at Dallas’ AT&T Stadium.

Prescott first hit KaVontae Turpin for a 34-yard touchdown pass with 5:59 left in the NFC East showdown, putting Dallas up 37-10 before the extra point. Turpin proceeded to leap into the oversized red kettle, a staple of previous celebrations at the AT&T Stadium, including former running back Ezekiel Elliott’s multiple jumps over the years. But Prescott joined in by rushing to the bucket and retrieving what appeared to be freshly wrapped turkey legs, unwrapping the meat for an immediate snack.

“Team effort, team idea,” Prescott said postgame. “We talked about it. It was probably a two to three day long process of whether it be 15 yards, whether Coach [McCarthy] would accept it. I actually go to talk to Coach before every game, and sure enough I called him as he was talking to [owner and general manager] Jerry [Jones]. So, I mentioned it, and of course Jerry liked it. At that point, my direction was ‘make sure we’re up and the game was in-hand.’ The touchdown to CeeDee and the following two-point conversion [to go up 31-10], if you watch, he’s kind of like ‘is it time, can we do it?’ I’m like ‘no, we’ll get another one.’ Sure enough, right after the one to Turpin, it was like ‘yeah, let’s go for it.’ It was good.”

Prescott and his accomplices, including tight end Jake Ferguson, are sure to be fined by the NFL for their theatric Thanksgiving efforts, but everyone at AT&T Stadium seemed to relish in the moment, and Prescott sure seemed to enjoy the turkey.

In Prescott’s eyes, the turkey leg wasn’t just a fun way to enjoy a blowout win. It spoke volumes about the confidence everyone has from the players to the coaching staff about how their offense is humming as their 31.5 points per game now leads the NFL in head coach Mike McCarthy’s first season calling plays in Dallas. They were so confident in scoring on Thursday that turkey legs were placed in all four red kettles with each being posted in the back corner of each end zone by AT&T Stadium employees in tin foil. 

“It goes to the prep that we put into this thing,” Prescott said of the feeling of confidence the team has in the offense and why the turkey leg celebration symbolized that. “We feel good about what we got. We feel good about the players that we have and it goes to the preparation we put into this thing. We’ve had the preparation, credit the game plan from these coaches week in and week out. They’re dialing things up and putting playmakers in the best position, and yeah, it’s confidence. Simple as that. 

“We understand we’re going to be in there. It’s not like we had them [turkey legs] in just that end zone, we had them in every bucket. DaRon could have got himself one himself when he jumped in the other one. He was probably stepping on them, but you have a plan to be there. I think that says a lot about your plan. You plan to be there. That says a lot too though. It’s a mindset, I think it’s important for us to have those expectations of getting in the end zone and understand we’ll get back in there.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is supportive of the celebration evolving past a seasonal novelty.

“If I thought we could have the result of (Dak) playing like he is, I’ll make that a staple on the sideline for every home game,” he said after Thursday’s big win, which pushed Dallas to 8-3 on the season.